Latches, such as those used in vehicles commonly employ a power lock system as a convenience feature. The power lock system may use an electrically powered actuator associated with multiple components of the vehicle such as a door latch or the trunk latch, to move the lock between a locked and an unlocked position. To protect the components of the door latch, most door latches are of the freewheeling type such that when the door latch is in the locked position, the door latch does not exert any resistance to actuation of a connected release handle. However, most freewheeling door latches are configured in such a manner that if the latch is in a locked position, the door latch cannot be unlatched if the door handle is pulled before or at the same time that power is applied.
In a common situation, a person will try to open a handle connected to a latch, such as a handle on a lift gate for example, before the latch has been unlocked. Subsequently or simultaneously, the person will attempt to unlock the latch but will not be able to do so since the handle is pulled. After the person lets go of the handle, the unlock mechanism must again be actuated to unlock the door. Thereafter, the person may pull on the handle again to gain access to the vehicle.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a latch wherein if the handle is pulled and the latch is unlocked simultaneously, the unlock mechanism need not be actuated again to open the latch.